PROJECT Manager of R. Bassoo and Sons construction company, Heidi Gillette, informed the newspaper, on Tuesday, January 15, 2019, that the expansion of the Supplies Chain Management Complex, often referred to as the Diamond Drug Bond, is 96 per cent complete and is expected to be handed over to the Ministry of Public Health by the end of January 2019.

“We’re fairly around 96 per cent completed. All the walls, floors, the roof and air conditioning have been installed. The only thing we have remaining is testing and making certain that the ACs and electricals are functioning but all the other works are finished. We’re going to be testing to make certain that the required flow of air and coldness is being given out by the air conditioners,” she said, adding: “It will be handed over before the end of the month.”

In a previous interview with the Department of Public Information, (DPI) Gillette had stated that the extension boasts a strip foundation; reinforced concrete floors; hollow block walls; metal sheeting for cladding as well as a special finish to the floors to prevent dusting, as the pharmaceuticals were being stored.

During the construction phase, the project manager said that relations were well with those occupying the other section of the building.

“We’ve worked well with the people occupying the building. They have been very co-operative with us, that’s the reason we were able to complete it, because we had to share some space but they worked with us,” she said.

The expansion’s dimension is 123 feet x 40 feet and will allow for the storage of additional drugs and medical supplies by the ministry.

The need for such arose in 2016 when the controversial renting of other bonds – costing the ministry millions – was brought to the fore.

Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence had then promised, and kept her word, that the renting of those locations would cease.
Also under construction, and expected to be completed soon, is the $250M Kingston Bond which was last reported as 65 per cent complete in September, 2018.